1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and a system for printing management preferably applied to printing of national newspapers that are circulated nation-wide at local newspaper print sites.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, in general practice, a general newspaper company with national circulation collectively prepares and edits newspaper pages at the head office and prints the newspaper pages at locally disposed newspaper print sites with the intention of delivery of the latest possible information to readers. In such a print system, each newspaper print site receives the edited print data by means of communication with the head office and makes printing plates for printing.
For example, accompanying drawing FIG. 9 shows the configuration of an example of a newspaper print system currently in use. As shown in FIG. 9, on the head office side, an editorial center (in which editorial operations are practically performed on multimedia data including not only newspapers but also other media) prepares and edits a newspaper.
The result of newspaper editing is given in the form of multilevel image data, but the head office generally sends each newspaper print site print data in the form of binary image data obtained by previously performing RIP (Raster-Image Processing) on the multilevel image data. By way of example, the head office sends each newspaper print site binary image data (page image data in dot data or bitmap data) concerning each individual color of CMYB (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) if the newspaper page is to be printed in color.
Upon receipt of print data (binary image data) from the head office, each newspaper print site inputs page indexes (codes or other information concerning plate name, page, color) corresponding to binary image data (page image data) representing each of the newspaper pages and a printing press that is to be used for printing the page with binary image data in a site management system. Meanwhile, a registration mark and a cutoff mark are put to the binary image data (page image data) representing each newspaper page. Such a registration mark and a cutoff mark are put to positions predetermined for the space respectively.
In succession, a printing plate is made on the basis of the binary image data having sustained the above processes by, for example, using an apparatus of CTP (Computer-To-Plate) or CTF (Computer-To-Film). A CTF apparatus generates a film with a page image but a CTP apparatus generates a printing plate. A CTF apparatus therefore makes a printing plate, using the generated film. A printing plate made by either manner is usually mounted, by hand, on a newspaper rotary press that is to print the image.
After that, each newspaper page is printed by the corresponding newspaper rotary press. During the print operation, a rotary press controlling system automatically controls the newspaper rotary press, and an automated registration unit and a cutoff controller respectively adjust registration and cutoff with reference to the registration mark and the cutoff mark that have been previously put (placed).
It should be note that newspaper printing has to provide the readers with the latest information in a highly accurate manner. Specifically, newspapers are required to provide their readers with faithful reproductions of image data without, of course, typographic errors. Especially, modern color newspapers have various problems in faithfully reproducing color image data by a print operation.
In other words, a normal color printing press such as a planographic offset printing press requires faithful reproduction of the color tone in addition to accurate registration concerning each color of CMYB (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black). Such demands have arisen in recent newspaper color printing.
As a solution, a Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) Publication No. 2001-301124 proposes an application of a color management technique frequently used for color printers which obtain color outputs by using color monitors that display image data on computers to a normal printing press exemplified by a planographic offset printing press.
The color management technique has been invented in order to solve the problem that color printers that output color images using image data and color monitors that display image data on computers do not obtain the same color reproducibility even if the same image data is used. Specifically, the technique prepares a device profile (hereinafter, simply called a profile) which describes a color reproducibility for each input or output device that uses digital data, and converts colors in digital image data on the basis of the profile through the intermediate of device-independent colors depend on any devices. An industrial standard of such a profile is represented by the ICC profile that has been standardized by an international standardization organization of the International Color Consortium (ICC).
A general printing press such as planographic offset printing press separates the plate making step from the printing step, and has made most printing plates by analog light exposure. Color management has therefore not been carried out in such printing presses. In accordance with practical use of the above-mentioned CTP technique (i.e., a plate making technique that forms an image on the surface of a printing plate on the basis of digital image data), color management using profile data proposed in the above patent application would have been able to be applied to an ordinary printing press exemplified by an offset printing press.
For example, the above patent application may carry out color management on image data to be used for making a printing plate, to which ink is applied so that the image is printed.
More specifically, first of all, multilevel image data representing an image to be printed sustains a RIP to be converted into binary image data, which is subsequently used for recording an image including a multilevel color chart on a printing plate (for making a printing plate). At least one of an ink or a web that are to be used for printing the image is determined, and the printing press prints the image, using the determined ink and/or web and the printing plate made in the previous step. Then each of the colors printed on the color chart is measured and on the basis of the measurement result, a profile data representing a printing characteristic of the printing press when the determined ink and/or web are used is generated. The obtained profile data is stored with the profile data being correlated with the determined ink and/or web. After that, when the printing press prints an image using the determined ink and/or web, color correction is performed on the image data based on the obtained profile data before the RIP step. The above procedure enables an ordinary printing press to perform color management depending on the profile.
Such a color management technique would be applicable to newspaper printing in which color printing has been increasing in recent years.
It should be also be mentioned that a newspaper print site usually includes a number of newspaper printing presses that may be of the same or different types. The number of pages of a newspaper to be printed and the page contents (e.g., color page or monochrome page) of each of the newspaper pages determine newspaper rotary presses, one for each page.
In particular, a single newspaper rotary press is equipped with as many as about 20 plate cylinders, which may be different in inking method and/or dampening method. The running condition determines which plate cylinder prints which newspaper page, and is frequently different each time the rotary press is run: a feature peculiar to newspaper printing.
Besides, print materials (ink, web) used for newspaper pages may be changed in accordance with a type of a newspaper rotary press and with the contents of a page image.
For this reason, application of the above color management to newspaper printing performed in a newspaper print site may result in wrong color correction unless the above feature peculiar to newspaper printing is not considered. In other words, mere retaining of the profile data with the data correlating with types of ink and/or web cannot suitably carry out color management on newspaper rotary presses different in type and on each individual newspaper rotary press.
Further, partly since color management is performed on multilevel image data and partly since the above conventional system sends each newspaper print site locally disposed binary image data representing the prepared and edited page images so that the newspaper print site obtains only the binary image data, the newspaper print site cannot perform color management in accordance with individual newspaper rotary presses in the newspaper print site.
Printing management may sometimes require accurate registration, fanout consideration, and/or accurate cutoff. For example, if a column stretching from a registration mark put (placed) on a fixed predetermined position of a space (i.e., the same position as the registration mark in the direction of the print-roll width) is not printed in color, insufficient ink is applied, so that an unclear registration mark is printed and may be a cause of misrecognition of the registration mark. Especially, a registration mark portion in yellow, i.e., a color close to that of the background, tends to be misrecognized. Further if a cutoff mark is put on a predetermined fixed position and a pattern resembling the cutoff mark is formed on a position the same in the left-to-right direction (the web-width direction) but different in the top-to-bottom direction in relation to the cutoff-mark position, there is a possibility that the pattern will be misrecognized as a cutoff mark.